West Virginia and Baylor’s total score lost 138-133 last week… to the rest of the conference’s scoring combined. Officials apologize-but-don’t-really-apologize-but-really-apologize after a blown call. And a coach feels the need to hit up Twitter to defend his poor boys against the student newspaper. … Just another week in the life of #Big12problems
1. West Virginia - A nod to Cincinnati Reds second-baseman Brandon Phillips, but Geno Smith was DAT DUDE against Baylor. I don’t care if the Bears defended their goal like it was the U.S. Mexico border, Smith might have won himself a Heisman before the midpoint of the season. You can’t set NCAA Football to high school difficulty and put up some of the numbers Smith did in real life. More touchdowns (8) than incomplete passes (45-of-51 throwing)? No interceptions this year? Child, please. Texas, you’re up next.
“Can you please tell me how you can improve on that?” — WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen.
2. Kansas State - It wasn’t fair to anybody to make us all wait two weeks for K-State to play KU. The extended time paved the way for terribly ridiculous topics like Bill Snyder’s Taco Bell run to be a part of a 10-minute conference call. God, sometimes I hate sports. Anyways, yeah, there is a game in Manhattan on Saturday morning. No, K-State won’t be flat. Yes, KU will be flat after the Wildcats steamroll them.
“No, it’s not where I eat lunch because I don’t eat lunch.” — K-State head coach Bill Snyder.
3. Oklahoma - It’s a rite of passage anymore in Norman. Big expectations. Lose a game where the locals don’t think you should have (which is always). Bob Stoops is on the “hot seat.” Ya know, one of these times I hope he does leave, and John Blake comes back. Even if it’s just for a season. Just so reality can open-palm slap the OU lunatic fringe in the face. In the meantime, Landry Jones has tried everything under the sun to be a better quarterback. I’ll just leave it there.
“I don’t think there’s been a game yet this year that he’s been excited about (his performance). That’s incredible. That’s how competitive he is.” – QB guru George Whitfield on Landry Jones
4. Oklahoma State - The first major controversial call of the conference season toppled the Cowboys in their bid to knock off Texas. The scuttlebutt surrounding a maybe/maybe not apology is useless. Whether the Big 12 did or didn’t apologize is something OSU will chew on during a bye week before unleashing the fury in Lawrence on Oct. 13.
”Reports that the Big 12 acknowledged a blown call and issued an apology to Oklahoma State are inaccurate.” – The Big 12, Twitter
5. Texas - Some will see the Longhorns here and tell me it’s not right since Texas beat Oklahoma State. Sometimes, it’s not about head-to-head who is more powerful in these rankings; especially not after the Longhorns got the win in the fashion it came. No, I look at things like this Texas defense that I trumped (after listening to Mack Brown) for months. Maybe part of this assessment is based on expectation, but… it stinks. 63rd in total defense nationally? 86th against the run? Nope. Not good enough. And, oh hey look, here comes West Virginia…
“It’s a real fun matchup to me because you’re talking about two teams that have played well, you’re talking about us defending our home turf against a great team — which hasn’t happened in a while — and you’re talking about offenses that are going with full guns right now.” - Texas head coach Mack Brown
6. Baylor - Just go hang yourself, defense. Defense. Please. Does that word even belong in here? It wasn’t that WVU was able to get open. I actually replayed some of the game at times just to see if Baylor had 11 guys on the field, or if they were facing the right direction, or weren’t sitting on the ground when the ball was snapped. Phil Bennett… what the hell, man?
“In my many years, it’s about as frustrating as I’ve ever been. In every facet, it was an extreme disappointment. We went into a spiral and couldn’t get out of it.” — Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett.
7. TCU - Is there a drug that Casey Pachall doesn’t like? After getting hit with a DWI… on a Wednesday night… the quarterback can now put alcohol up there with failing a drug test for marijuana and “trying” cocaine in his college career. I’m not mad atcha, Casey. That’s a well-rounded education if you ask me.
“(He’s) suspended from competition until we come up with a good answer for him, how we’re going to handle life and how we’re going to do things. So is it one game? Is it all the rest of the season? I don’t know what that answer is.” – TCU head coach Gary Patterson
8. Texas Tech - Begrudgingly, I give the Red Raiders respect this week by moving them up a spot. That was a solid win against Iowa State for a program that had done nothing to prove to me they could beat any football team not equivalent to a bed-ridden vegetable. Now, about those Sooners… anybody want to bet that a streak of three-straight home wins versus OU dating back to 2005 comes to an end?
“It’s great to talk about those stats. I mean, they’re good for people to compare and all that. But we know better than that. We all know better than that. Five weeks from now we’ll know a lot more. Heck, we’ll know a lot more after this week.” – Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville
9. Iowa State - Unless Texas Tech is just flat better than I think, that home loss stings, ISU. But, it’s nothing that a win against a Pachall-less TCU couldn’t cure in a heartbeat. But, that’s only going to happen if the Cyclones figure out a pretty messy offensive picture.
“Its offensive wide, which includes the game planning, which includes the play calling. You got to look at all of that and you got to analyze all of that.” — ISU head coach Paul Rhoads
10. Kansas - There’s so much here. So much that reminds folks why KU football is buried at the bottom of this conference. More than a week before the Jayhawks play a rival, a guy shoots off about the opponent through Twitter. A week later, after the head coach tells reporters that he preaches “common sense” when it comes to social media, the same coach takes to Twitter to fire away at the student newspaper. We’re just barely over a month into the season. Jeebus.
“… Weis told reporters that he didn’t believe in controlling players on Twitter or other parts of social media.
‘We really profess using common sense,” Weis said. “And for any player, or any coach to get on Twitter and say anything at all disrespectful to another team, just makes no sense.’” — KU head coach Charlie Weis
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